Copper's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange continued to trend lower at the close of trading on Tuesday February 12, with nickel futures also moving downward amid an increasingly negative appetite for risk across the commodity markets.
Copper futures topped the complex for total volumes traded, with 13,960 lots changing hands by the close, but continue to trend lower after trading for a little less than $6,300 per tonne last week. The metal has now lost more than 3% of its three-month price in one week.Yet open interest in copper remains high, with more than 403,000 open positions being recorded this week for the first time since December 2018.Meanwhile, a decade-low in LME stock levels and the emergence of a dominant warrant-holding position at around 50-79% of LME stocks and tomorrow/next positions remained supportive of prices."There has not been much of a trigger behind the recent weakness we are seeing in the LME group, other than the fact that prices have climbed rather noticeably on supply-related issues, without stronger demand being evident,"...